It was definitely a bit of a struggle for the first half a mile of the first run, trying to work out which bits of me worked, and fashion a running stride that was as efficient as possible without stressing my stiff bits.

The biggest change this week to a normal weeks running (other than no speed work and the reduced miles) was that I didn’t take my Garmin watch or HRM out with me. I tracked everything using RunKeeper on my phone (which is why every run has a slow first mile as I spend 30 seconds wrapping the phone back up in its waterproof bag and stuff it in my running belt). It was actually very refreshing to not be a slave to the little Dictator that normally sits on my right wrist. It meant I was able to just go out and run with a clear head, and concentrate on getting a good run in than try and hit some arbitrary goals. Running at speed is not going to help me get ready for the Goofy Challenge over the next 5 weeks. The main goal is to just recover and not lose any fitness.

By not having the watch on, my run on Sunday was a proper slow, long run, I let my body go at the pace it wanted to, so I was a good 90 seconds or so down for most of that run, and I felt good when I finished. There was no soreness, and I wasn’t tired like I thought I would be.

All in all it has been a good “active” recovery week, I think I am going to enjoy this more relaxed training for the next few weeks.